Couples week’s away in Scotland – Ideas?

So for Christmas, my lovely parents decided to get me and OH a holiday for a week as with our working hours we don’t actually get that much quality time together.

It has been agreed a week away in self catering accomodation like a nice little cottage somewhere and we would both like to go and explore Scotland a bit more. It is right on our doorstep, I actually commute to work to Scotland and we feel like we take it for granted a bit so would like to venture further than Gretna and Dumfries!

Where is good with plenty of things to do? We don’t really want to go to anything like a Centreparcs, we both like historical type things so castles to look at etc are a winner. I’d rather be in the countryside/small town and have to drive to places than be in a large town/city. Anywhere with a pub that serves decent food is also a winner.

But I have no idea where to even begin to look! All we know is not Edinburgh as OH went to Uni there, we would like to explore somewhere new. I like the idea of a Loch but since this will be a summer time venture how bad will the flies be? Is it worth waiting until maybe Autumn/next Winter to glimpse the northern lights?

hmm, if I were you I would think of going to the Isle of Mull. Its perfect for a short break, lots of nice places to eat both in Tobermory and elsewhere, nice walks, great wildlife and great estates/castles to visit. There is a bit of driving though but there are some lovely cottages and its not so far you’ll spend ages travelling. Obviously with the West coast you take your chances a bit with weather and midges but I’ve never been much bothered by them in Mull.

eta for me the best time to visit is either autumn or spring and often the weather is somewhat better and the tourists/midges less prevalent.

Second all the above ideas I do like Deeside and the Lochnagar estate, I have stayed out at Loch Awe some of the cabins are now privately owned and on airbnb and others are a small holiday letting company, which is lovely and you can go out to Oban and try the seafood which is excellent. If you want to go out into the wilds I love Inverie on the Knoydart peninsula and Torridon all have excellent dog walking and pubs and ancient scots pine forests.

It’s quite remote but the owners offer amazing “ready meals” delivered to the cabin and there’s a pub within walking distance that does incredible food. Half an hour drive from Loch Ness and Inverness, and loads of walking in the area. Definitely recommend a visit to Glen Affric and Glen Strathfarrar.

We’d go back every year if we could afford it! All TripAdvisor reviews are five star too!

Hubby and I had a lovely holiday near Crieff once, and there was plenty to do including Pitlochry (sp) lots of distilleries, loads of walks and the Blair Atholl estate where we went on an early morning wildlife safari in a landrover….

Mull & Skye are both beautiful but Skye especially is hoaching busy in the summer and both are quite a trek to get to.

My recommendation would be to find a nice B&B on the outskirts of FortWilliam, the town itself isn’t most wonderful but it’s at the foot of Ben Nevis and from there you can take the Steam Train (Harry Potter) over the famous Viaduct at Glenfinnan (I got married there

) to Maillaig – where you can hop on the Ferry to Skye for a day trip. It’s also a good base to travel to see other parts of the Highlands inc the Silver Sands at Morar, down Glen Coe and up to Aviemore where you can go on the Cairngorm Mountain Funicular Railway and do various other things. You will really see the heart of the Highlands and the iconic scenery everyone expects in these areas.

It’s not far from Blair Castle either and there’s a train station not far away which goes to Mallaig where you can get on a ferry to Skye.The cottages are spacious and clean with the living area upstairs which has a balcony. Loch Rannoch is just at the end of the drive which is the view we had from our balcony. The owner has horses too. I also notice it’s 20% off for couples.

Wow, thank you everyone, alot to look at! I was half looking at the Oban area to stay as that looks handy for some of the day trips to the Islands? Some stunning recommendations on here though so I am utterly spoilt for choice

I definitely take Scotland for granted, I forget just how beautiful the scenery is. No idea how I will make a decision now, however, as a die hard Harry Potter fan I *need* to go on that Steam Train

It’s a lovely experience. If you go sit on the left as you look towards the front of the train then you get to see the viaduct in all its glory. There is a proper Harry Potter experience train, but we went on the normal one, a fraction of the price and still amazing. It was a fairly long journey from Rannoch where we set off from but it didn’t seem it as you get to see all the stunning scenery along the way. Rannoch Station is a funny place. It’s in the middle of nowhere and as we had a wait for the train we went for a stroll. Imagine our surprise when a formation of jet planes suddenly flew over very low. It was surreal.

We live a couple of hours away from the Blair/Pitlochry area and regularly use it for short breaks, accomodation is hard to come by as it gets booked up quickly. My son and his fiancee love exploring the islands and are particularly fond of Mull although they have booked a cottage on Skye for their honeymoon. Skye has famous award winning restaurants too, The Three Chimneys and the Michelin star Loch Bay Restaurant are well known if you like good food.

IMO you can’t beat Fort Augustus in the Highlands. (I hardly ever post on here but had to log on to recommend!) We go tomorrow for a week and I can’t wait. It’s a fair drive but so worth it. You can take a boat ride on Loch Ness (speedboat or a tour boat), drive to Ben Nevis and there are some fabulous places to eat. The scenery is truly beautiful and second to none. You can visit Spean Bridge and the monument, there are castles nearby (and within hiking distance – there are many scenic walks), the Nessie centre is okay and there are larger towns nearby you can visit. The Loch flowing through Fort Augustus is beautiful when it is all lit up at night.